Rural communities across the country are increasingly being targeted by developers for large-scale data centers, raising questions about long-term impacts on local resources, infrastructure and residents.
Lower land costs, available acreage and fewer regulatory restraints make rural areas attractive for these projects. Many communities, eager for economic development, are also offering tax incentives to attract industry.
Chairman of the Adair County Economic Development Authority, Larry Walker, said that the EDA has been against data centers in discussions. He said they have not discussed any interest in going after data centers.
“It takes a lot space and don’t create very many jobs. It uses a lot of electricity,” he said.
He said that there are groups that are trying to buy land for potential data centers, but to his knowledge there have not been any in this area.
The EDA has contracted with a marketing group from Texas and the two industries they targeted were automotive and food processing.
Data centers are not new. There have been data centers around for 70 to 80 years, but they have evolved into super data centers that require more resources. Northern Virginia has the most data centers of any other state with over 600 facilities.
According to the Environment and Energy Study Institute, these data centers consume enormous amounts of energy. The demand for power is causing the cost of power to increase. The EESI projects that by 2028, data centers will use 12 percent of the electricity in the United States.
These centers also put a strain on local water supply consuming as much as 5 million gallons per day for evaporative-cooled facilities. Developers have designed a new cooling system that can significantly cut the water consumption, but they are more expensive to build and use complex chemicals that can cause environmental issues if they leak.
Research from the Rural Assembly indicates that while developers often argue they cover their own infrastructure costs, those expenses may ultimately be passed on to consumers. Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission projects $14 to $37 a month increase for Virginia residents in the next fourteen years. While the Union of Concerned Scientists discovered that $4.3 billion in power grid costs has shifted to consumers across seven states.
Employment is another factor often cited in discussions about economic impact. Most jobs associated with data centers occur during the construction phase, which typically lasts 12 to 18 months. Once operational, facilities generally employ between eight workers at smaller sites and up to 50 at large-scale centers.
These centers produce constant noise which has been a complaint from residents close to the centers.
Data center concerns are valid and there need to be regulations and ordinances put into place now on what will and will not be acceptable. Most people use the services that data centers provide daily. It’s not just AI. Streaming videos or television, social media, online shopping and anything using the internet requires a data center somewhere.
To be proactive, local government can set ordinances that outline clear standards for noise, water, and power consumption and reporting. Require these centers to disclose their usage, energy load, noise modeling and tax incentive terms. Push utility companies to separate rate classes for residential and business customers to avoid shifting the cost of the power grid to residents.
As AI and internet usage increases so will the demand for more data centers. City and county government should begin now to prepare and educate themselves about data centers and proactively develop a plan.
The concerns outlined in these studies reflect the same issues local officials say are guiding decisions in Adair County, where the Economic Development Authority has chosen not to pursue data center development.
